Petty, anti-gun antics from the Ohio Democrat Party and its allies

The anti-gun lobby, the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence and Democratic state officials are aiming their pointy little fingers at state Republican Rep. Margaret Conditt of Liberty Township because she plans to have an election fundraiser at Middletown Sportsmen’s Club on May 12.

The club is a — danger alert — firing range, and apparently a big no-no if concerned citizens care about gun violence and young people. Firing ranges, being operated by the experts, taking the best possible precautions, are practical, effective and legal; so what is the problem with having a politician conduct a fundraiser at a local firing range?

Common sense says absolutely nothing, yet the picture the hucksters would like to paint is a dark, ugly one of evil at the hands of bad politicians who support Second Amendment rights.

Calling the scheduled event “distasteful” and “irresponsible”, opponents claim their objection to Conditt’s firing range fundraiser is due to the senseless killing of 3 students at Chardon High School in Geauga County on February 27, when a lone 17 year old opened fire at a cafeteria table using a .22 caliber pistol. Huh? What does a firing range fundraiser have to do with a high school shooter?

Common sense says absolutely nothing – apples and oranges – but opponents will have us believe there is a sure correlation between violent acts committed by criminals and the weaponry used at firing ranges when the evidence clearly shows there is none.

In fact, the evidence shows that gun control laws have increased crime rates. For instance, in places such as Chicago and Washington D.C. where menacing gun bans have been enacted, murder rates have skyrocketed.

Of course, this is not about preventing violent crimes, it is just another attempt by a seemingly harmless, yet extremely dangerous group, to exploit a tragic incident involving firearms in order to promote an agenda that would a) create an illusion that guns and the politicians that support guns are evil and b) eventually disarm the good citizens of the United States so that the so called know better, do better, powerful government officials of the United States can control the unruly masses for the common good.

Conditt’s campaign and other pro-Second Amendment leaders are wide awake, thank goodness, and are not bowing down to the demands of the pointy little fingers.

For one, Margaret Conditt has no intention on cancelling the firearm fundraiser, which will feature — oh no, hold on to your seats — skeet shooting. Good! And for two, on May 1 the Ohio House Republican Organizational Committee chair and state representative, Matt Huffman (R-Lima) issued the following statement (in part):

Today, House Democrats and their affiliated groups stood against the millions of Ohioans who are supporters of the Second Amendment and the tens of thousands of responsible gun owners in Ohio. This press conference was nothing more than a political stunt that made an outrageous link between horrific tragedies and lawful gun ownership. The fact that the Democrats even mentioned the death of Trayvon Martin and the school shooting in Chardon, Ohio shows that they will go to any length to further their own anti-gun agenda. This is both disgusting and insulting to gun owners, the Martin family, and the families of the victims in Chardon. Enlisting fear mongering to further a political agenda is no way to govern.

Agreed and further, it is highly insulting to Ms. Conditt, who is a popular and talented official, to insinuate that her motives for having an election fundraiser at a firing range are derelict.

Prior to joining the Ohio House of Representative in June 2011, Dr. Conditt was an executive manager at Procter and Gamble for 22 years in the Food, Paper and Pharmaceutical Divisions, as well as the Corporate Environmental Safety Division, having a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Colorado.

Conditt served as a trustee of Liberty Township, as board member of Catholic Charities of Southwest Ohio, as campus minister at Northern Kentucky University, is a jail chaplain for incarcerated women, and is also a citizenship merit badge counselor for the Dan Beard Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Not exactly the dark, ugly, nefarious type now is she?

The well funded, anti-firearm lobby will harangue any politician, any official, any court, or any individual, at any time, any place, no matter how disingenuous, for no other reason except that they are supportive of Second Amendment rights, and the anti-firearm lobby is vehemently against it.

The director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, Toby Hoover, is also on the board of directors of the Brady campaign. At least we have an idea where the money is coming from, the constitution hating billionaire crew, who are constantly fighting us using the same stale arguments they have been using for decades, blaming gun violence on the instrument, not the criminal using the instrument in an evil way.

At a Second Amendment forum in Cleveland in February 2011, while responding to the argument that Americans have a constitutional right to carry firearms, Ms. Hoover said “sometimes individuals have to do things that are not so easy for the common good.”

The belief that innocent Americans ought to give up their Second Amendment rights for the purpose of protecting others, who may be the victim of a crime involving a firearm, is a haphazard, anti-firearm, anti-Constitution excuse to take certain gun rights away from us.

Their idea of the common good is bringing together vulnerable victims of violent crimes, convincing them that controlling gun sales and transport will save lives when it will not, and then recruiting them to the cause of gun control. Aha, Rep. Margaret Conditt the intelligent doctor and ideal citizen, mother of two, grandmother of one is putting young people at risk – right.

If we were to heed the advice of the self proclaimed caretakers of preventing gun violence, we would go ahead and reject the Constitution, blame the instrument, exploit tragic incidences, and deceive others, but whatever we do, do not hold an election fundraiser at a firing range after a nearby violent crime has occurred, now that is distasteful and irresponsible — right?